Storage battery.



A. O. TATE.-

STORAGE BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.24,1908.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.A. o. TATE, STORAGE BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24,1908.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

2SHEETS-SHEET z.-

ALFREDO O. TATE, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO'TATE'ELEO'IROLYTIQ COMPANY OF AMERICA, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

sronaen BATTERY.

Specification o'f Lettersrmem. P t ted; Nov. 16, 1909.

Application filed February 24, 1908. Serial No. 117,314.

To all whom it may concern:

subject of the King of Great Britain, and

resident of the city of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have made a new and useful Invention in Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is directed particularly to an improvement upon a storage battery plate disclosed in a prior patent No. 880,422, granted to me by the U. S..Paten't Office on the 25th day of February, 1908, in which patent I have described and claimed a novel form of what I term a bifunctional storage battery plate in whichthe anodes and cathodes of such plate are in the nature of interre' lated or interleaved thin lead strips supported by insulating frames and all bound together, the anode strips being connected together at the top of the plate and the cathode strips at the bottom thereof, and the present invention has forits object generically the adaptation of this type of interrelated strips to a unifunctional use; that is to say, it consists in constructing -a battery plate in which the anode strips are all bound in one plate in the manner disclosed in the beforementioned application and the cathode strips are similarly combined in an independent plate, so that each plate is capable of a unifunctional use as storage battery plates are ordinarily used.

My invention will be fully understood by referring to the accon'ipanying drawings, in which, i f

Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of one of the supporting and. insulating frames for each anode or cathode strip; 2 is an end view thereof as seen looking at Fig. 1 from the top toward the bottom of the drawings;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a portion of aeompleted plate with the parts assembled; Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view broken at'the upper and lower portions thereof and broken away at the middle portion thereof to show the entire structure of oneof the complete anode or cathode strips as assembled ready for the formation of a complete plate: Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a complete unifunctional plate embodying the present. improvement, the same being the preferred form of structure designed for commercial use by me; Fig. 6 is a plan view-- of a storage battery cell embodying two of my novel'iunifunctional plates assembled therein and-ready for use.

Referring now to the drawings in detail in which all letters of reference represent like or equivalent parts wherever used, and first to Figs. 1 to 41 inclusive, '5 represents an open supporting and insulating frame for any one of the strip or ribbon like anodes or cathodes, this "frame being composed preferably of hard rubber, vegetable fiber or any equivalent insulating medium of sutlicient strength and flexibility to answer the purpose. I prefer to use hard rubber and in the construction of these frames they are stamped out bodily from a sheet of the materia in such manner as to give the conformation shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings with enlarged squared ends and holes or openings therethrough and a central rib 1". After being thus stamped out one face of each end is milled out to the same width as the slot like openings between said ends and the rib r, and said rib is also milled out, the portions milled out representing a depth say of 3 p of an inch in each instance, the entire thickness of the supporting and -insulating frame being of an inch; the length thereof 8 inches; the width an inch and the width of the openings between the ends and the rib '4 being',% of an'inch. These proportions are of sufficient size for the parts of a full sized plate, but may be varied, if desired. After the milling is effected I pass a rotary grooving tool through the slotted openings in the direction of the length of the frame so as to cut out grooves in the inner faces thereof, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 1, and as shown in end view Fig. 2;

these 'rooves constitutin the oints of so.

port for the strips orv ribbons, as will no'vt be described, reference being iia d to Figs? of the drawings.

o; represents one of such strips or ribbons j which is of such width as to fit snugly when drawn into the grooves just described, and in this connection I may state that I prefer to place in said grooves, before the strip is attaclrs of the electrolyte. When this ribbon is drawn in to the full extent one face thereof res-ts fiat against the milled surfaces at .he opposite ends of the frame and ofthe intermediate rib 1' and these surfaces may also be coated with the before-mentioned insulating liquid medium, all in such a way that when put together in the manner described there is formed a frame and ribbon support of remarkable flexibility, strength" and. durability. lVhen the strips are thus drawn in to their complete limit holes are provided in each end which correspond to the holes in the ends-of the supporting frame, and after the strips are secured in the manner described the active material 6 i l I crease porous strips 9, g,'rc'st. The lower ends of theporous strips 9, g, rest upon the lower squared washers w, and said strips are of such length that their upper ends are sop-- terated in each instance from the lower edges 3 of the upper squared washers a), w, to a satis applied in the nature at verythin coa tings or films on both-sides of the strip afas shown; the coating represented in Fig. 4 of the drawings being very much exaggerated, said coating, however, being flush with the faces of both sides of the frame 1 Referring now to Fig. 3 of the drawings I will describe the manner of assembling the parts of the entire plate. i, i represent as to be passed through the openings at the opposite ends of the supporting frames 2', z,

and anode or cathode strips or ribbons a, a.

It will be noted on examination of Fig. 40f the drawings that the upper end of one of the anode or cathode strips, as shown, extends above the upper end of the supporting frame, so that when the several parts are assembled all of those conducting ribbons or strips which constitute the anodes or cathodes at'the upper end of the plate arebent over so as to come into good electrical contact with each other and are then lead brazed together, the several strips when thus brazed together constituting the anode poles a, a, or cathode poles c, c, of the plate.

After being assembledon the insulating supporting rods 6, b which also support flexible cushion strips f, f, of rubber, and binding plates d, d, at their opposite ends they are firmly secured by nuts 11, n, n, n, so as to thereby constitute in effect one integral plate in which the admission of the electrolyte to the-active material is always through the lateral edges of the insulating porous strips 9, g,-and' in this connection I may state that for the purpose of affording more free admission of the electrolytic solution I prefer to nurl in a direction cross-wise of their length the side faces of the supporting and insulating frame 1.,2', a ainst which the ficicnt extent to leave vents or o icnin s /t /i The structure as so fardescribed is identi .cally like that disclosed in Figs. 1 to t inclusive of the drawings of the before-men: tioned patentin which, as before stated, the structural electrode plate when assembled is'ofa bifunctional nature. in the presentinvention I have assembled all of the anode strips (5, a, in this manner in one complete so as to thereby ati'ord free for the gases generated.

plate, as shown in Fig. 4371f the'draw -f ings, so as to constitutewh'at l term a uniiu ictional plate, and all of the cathode strips 6, c, are similarly assembled so as to constitute a second or independent unifunctional plate, after-which the two plates as thus constructed are assembled vin the man ner shown in Fig. 6 of the d.--awings, where .m is the containing cell, the anode plate in this instance being the upper one and the cathode plate the lower oneas indicated respectively on the left and right .bythc and signs in the usual way. I have aseertained tha t a battery plate as thus constructed possesses relatively large active surface-and that whcnlwo or more of these plates are assembled in the manner described, relatively close to each other in a cell, materially valuable results are attained. My invention contemplats generically a nnifunctionalstorage battery plate made up .of anode or cathode strips relatively closely allied with each other and separated .by insulating media which permits of the free access of the electrolyte, the lateral edges of such strips -being insulated. from the elec trolyte and the entire arrangement such that the action of the plate both in charging and discharging is through or upon the adjacent faces of .the strips only; (whether the same be of a Plant or Faure type), two such plates constituting one complete cell, as shown in Fig; 6 of the drawings. I

In prior patents, as follows, Nos.880, l20; 880,421; 880,423; 880,424 and 880,425, granted to me by the U. S. Patent Ollice on' the 25th day of February, 1908, bifunctional storage battery plates in which various dispositions of anode and cathode strips and means for insulating the same from the electrolyte are shown and described.

My present improvement contemplates a unifunctional arrangement of all of the modified forms of inventions disclosed in the before-mentioned patents and in a manner which will be understood by those skilled in the art, in view of the preceding description.

- eral edges from the electrolyte. substantially Having thus described my invention what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- I cut of the l nited States is I 1. It unit'unctional storage battery plate embracing a series of thin narrow conducting strips all connected together electrically l at one end and separated from each other by porous in ulating material. all such conducting strips being insulated at their latl cral edges from the electrolyte, substantially as described.

2. r1 unit'unctional storage battery plate embracing a series of hin narrow conducting strips all connected together electrically at one end and separated by similar strips of porous insulating material. all such conducting strips being insulated at their latas describtal.

Fl. A unit'unctional storage battery plate embracing a series of relatively thin narrow lead sti ips all connected togetherelectri ally at one end and separated from each other by like strips of porous insulating material, all such lead strips being insulated at their lateral ed es-tron! the electrolyte. substantially as described.

4-. unilunctional storage battery plate embracing a series of conducting strips all (Otlllttlttl together at one end and separated from each other by relatively thin strips of porous insulating material: in combination with means for binding them all together, all such conducting strips being insulated at their lateral edges from the electrolyte, substantially as described.

5. unilunctional storage l-iattery plate embracing a series of strip or ribbon like conductors all connected together electrically and separated from each other by porous insulating strips of like form; in cornbinatioir with cushion strips and binding plates. said ribbon like conductors being all insulated at their lateral edges from the electrolyte, substantially as described.

(3. unit'unctional storage battery plate embracing parallel conducting strips all connected together electrically and separatedl from each other by porous insulating mate.-

rial, the conducting strips being insulated 7. A unifunctional storage battery plate embracing a series of conducting strips con nected together electrically and separated from each other by thin porous insulating strips, the edges of said strips being located in the lateral faces of the plate and all of the conducting strips insulated at their lateral edges from the electrolyte. substantially as described.

8. A unifunctional storage battery plate embracing a serie: of thin narrow condncting strips each sustained by an independent insulating frame and all connected together at one end, the arrangement being such that the edges of the strips are located substantially in the side faces of the plate, substantially as described.

9. A. storage battery embracing two unii'unctioual plates each having a series of conducting st rips or ribbons separated from each other by porous insulating strips, all

of the conducting strips of each plate being electrically connected together and insulated at their lateral edges from the electrolyte, and the two plates so located when in use that the edges of the strips of both plates are in relatively close parallelism, substantially as described.

10. A storage battery embracing two unifunctional plates: composed each of conducting strips separated by porous insulating material, the lateral edges of said conduct ing strips being insulated from the eleetro lyte and each set of such strips counci 5%] to an independent conductor, said plates com" stituting respectively the anode and cathode of the battery. substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED O. TATE. \Vitnesses C. J. KINTNER, M. F. KEATJNG. 

